Children with cleft lips regain smiles, confidence

There is hope for the children born with cleft palates in the Sultanate as surgery of many of these children have been put on hold just as many less important medical cases were put on hold due the pandemic.

“Number of children with cleft palate is on the rise which needs to be addressed as the corrective procedure needs to be done well before they are 8 months old or before they reach 1 year,” said Dr Taimor al Bulushi, Senior Consultant Plastic Surgeon of the Ministry of Health (MoH).

A cleft palate makes it hard for children to eat and speak and a surgery is the only option. Recently, as many as 25 Omani children aged 7 months and less got their cleft palate reconstructed free of cost, thanks to the initiative of a private hospital.

The surgery is done in two phases. Firstly, the lip is repaired and a separate surgery is needed to fix the palate. Several surgeries are needed to make the lip appear as normal as possible following which a patient undergoes speech therapy.

Dr Shamsheer Vayalil, founder chairman and managing director of VPS Healthcare and his team at the Burjeel Hospital took the issue of cleft palate close to their hearts which brought back smiles to children and their parents.

“It is the genuine smiles of gratitude of these Omani parents that we get in return,” Dr Shamsheer told the Observer.

The medical team led by Dr Taimor did as many as 25 cases and another 25 children who are awaiting their turns for the surgery will soon get their hardships removed.

“There are more children in the society who need this corrective surgery and we will be supporting them in the days to come. All we need to tell the parents is that there is room for hope and the smiles on their faces is the best remuneration that we can get,” Dr Taimor said.

These children with cleft palates are, in fact, born with extra intelligence and they can, after getting their confidence back, excel in their lives, the doctor said.

“They are very intelligent by birth and once the deformity is corrected, they are super performers in their chosen path.”

Cleft palate surgery is performed by a team of doctors including plastic surgeon, maxillofacial surgeon and ENT surgeon.

It usually takes about 3 to 4 weeks for the incision to heal. A child may need to wear padded arm restraints for 1 to 2 weeks after surgery to prevent him or her from rubbing the surgery area.